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Feds: 4 Texas officers guarded cocaine shipments

Published on NewsOK
Modified: December 14, 2012 at 1:26 pm •
Published: December 14, 2012

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McALLEN, Texas (AP) — Three South Texas lawmen including the son of a prominent county sheriff will likely spend the weekend in custody on charges accusing them and another officer of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to guard shipments of cocaine.

In this Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 photo, Mission Police Chief Martin Garza speaks to the media during a news conference at Mission Police Department in Mission, Texas. Three South Texas lawmen, including the son of a prominent county sheriff, will likely spend the weekend in custody on charges alleging that they and another officer accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to guard shipments of cocaine. Federal agents Wednesday arrested Jonathan Trevino, son of Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino, and Alexis Espinoza, son of Hidalgo Police Chief Rudy Espinoza, three area law enforcement officials confirmed. (AP Photo/The Monitor, Joel Martinez)

U.S. Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos set bond at $100,000 Friday for Mission Police officer Jonathan Trevino, 29, and Hidalgo County Sheriff's deputies Fabian Rodriguez, 28, and Gerardo Duran, 30. The same bond was set a day earlier for their alleged co-conspirator Mission Police officer Alexis Espinoza.

Ramos said it was unlikely that pre-trial services could arrange for their release if any of the men posted bond before Monday.

Prosecutors say the four were members of a task force called the Panama Unit that fights drug trafficking. Instead of combatting the drug trade, prosecutors say the four provided protection for it.

Trevino is the son of Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino. Espinoza is the son of Hidalgo Police Chief Rodolfo "Rudy" Espinoza.

Sheriff Lupe Trevino, dressed in a sport coat and jeans, sat in court with other family members Friday. After the hearing, federal agents who worked the case filed out of the first row of seats in the courtroom, stopping to shake hands with him.

The news that the men would likely not be able to leave custody before Monday came as a disappointment. Trevino said they had spent Thursday trying to meet the conditions of bond. Ramos said if they post bond they will be on home detention and monitored electronically, allowed to leave home for work, religious services and court appearances. Ramos urged them to find work outside of law enforcement as soon as possible.

On Friday, the three lawmen stood among a group of 15 men making their initial appearances on a variety of felony charges. They stood motionless as Ramos read their charges for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and noted that if convicted they could face from 10 years to life in prison.

The federal charges against the men have sent shockwaves through the area's law enforcement community.

The sheriff said the FBI came to his office around 3 p.m. Wednesday to tell him that two of his deputies and his son were targets of an investigation. He said the Panama Unit was formed more than three years ago to help Mission clean up its street-level drug crime, and that he couldn't comment on the specifics of the case because it wasn't his investigation.